Vehicle door fasteners



Jan. 15, 1957 Filed Jan. 10, 1956 P. S. JEAVONS VEHICLE DOOR FASTENERS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 15, 1957 P. s. JEAVONS 2,777,719

VEHICLE DOOR FASTENERS Filed Jan. 10, 1.956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent VEHICLE DOOR FASTENERS Philip SwingeWood Jeavons, South Yardley, Birmingham,

England, assignor to Wilmot-Breeden Limited, Birmingham, England Application January 10, 1956, Serial No. 558,323

3 Claims. (Cl. 292280) This invention relates to vehicle door fasteners of the kind including a rotary toothed catch for engagement with a striker on the body, a push button operable from the exterior of the door for releasing the catch, release means manually operable from the inside of the door, and a separate locking means operable from the inside of the door.

The object-of the invention is to provide a vehicle door fastening of this kind in a simple and convenient form which provides the following features:

(a) Means whereby the door is automatically unlocked as it is closed, in the event of the door being closed with the locking means inadvertently left in the locked position.

(12) Means whereby the door may be locked from the outside by setting the locking means in the locked position and closing the door with the push button depressed.

('c) Means which can be preset so that actuation of the release means can be caused to unlock the door, or so that when the door is locked actuation of the release means can be efiected without releasing the catch.

A vehicle door fastener according to the invention comprises in combination, a body part adapted to be mounted adjacent the free edge of the door, a rotary toothed catch in the body part for engagement with a striker on a relatively fixed part of the vehicle body, a spring-loaded pawl pivoted on the body part of engagement with the catch, a slide having pin and slot connection with the body part, means for imparting angular movement to the slide from the outside of the door, locking means operable from the inside of the door for imparting sliding movement to the slide between a locked position and an unlocked position, a stud or other projection on the slide for imparting a catch releasing movement to the pawl when angular movement is imparted to the slide in the unlocked position, adetent operable by the pawl to move the slide to the unlocked position when the pawl is actuated in a catch releasing direction with the slide in the locked position, a lever pivotally mounted on the body part for angular movement with the slide and having an arm extending beside an arm of the pawl, and release means operable from the inside of the door which can be preset to act upon the arm of the pawl or on the arm of the said lever.

In the accompanying drawings Figures 1, 2 and 3 respectively are a sectional side elevation, a sectional plan and a sectional end view of one example of the invention, and Figures 4, 5 and 6 are respectively similar views to Figures 1, 2 and 3 illustrating a modified example of the invention.

In the example of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 a body part 10 adapted to be mounted at the free edge of a vehicle door carries a rotary toothed catch 11 for cooperation with a toothed striker on the vehicle body in known manner. Pivotally mounted on the body part is a lever 12, which is capable of being rocked about its pivot 13, from the outside of the door, by the manual 2 actuation of a push button (not shown), which may act directly or indirectly on, the main lever. In the drawings the push button acts indirectly upon the lever 12 through the link 14 pivotally attached to the lever at 15.

Carried by the lever 12 is a slide 16 which has a longitudinally and vertically extending slot 17, which engages the pivot pin 13, and which carries a stud or other projection 13 engaging another and parallel slot 19 in the lever 12. Any angular movement imparted to the lever 12 is thus also imparted to the slide 16. In order to maintain the slide at either of its extreme positions there is connected to the slide a bifurcated spring 20 which embraces the pivot 13, the arms of this spring being shaped to resist movement of the pivot pin from the ends of the slot 17. a

At the lower end of the slide 16 is a further slot 21 in which is a lateral pin 22 extending from the one end of a lever 23 pivoted on the body part. This lever 23 is adapted for connection to, and rockable by a lock actuating means (not shown) on the inside of the door, to impart vertical movement to the slide.

Pivotally mounted upon the pivot pin 13 is a pawl 24 which has a laterally extending and arcuate portion 25 for engagement by a tooth of the rotary catch 11 and a step or other abutment 26 on its upper edge, for cooperation with the stud orother projection 18 on the slide in a manner to be described. Another part of the upper edge of the pawl bears against a lateral pin 27 on the one end of a detent 28 pivoted on the bodypart, the opposite end of this detent having a nose adapted to cooperate with a shoulder or other abutment 29 on the slide 16 in a manner to be described. This detent '28 is loaded by a spring 3i) to hold its lateral pin 27 in contact with the pawl 24, and to urge the pawl into engagement with the rotary catch. Alternatively the pawl 24 and detent 28 may have separate spring. loadings.

The pawl 24 also has an arm 24a which extends parallel to a 'simiiar arm 12a on the lever 12. Above the ends of these two arms is an adjustable arm 31 on a release lever 32 rockable by a catch releasing handle (not shown) on the inside of the door. By slidably adjusting the arm 31 relative to the lever 32 a nose 31a on the arm can be preset to bear against either the arm 12a or the arm 24a.

The arrangement is such that in the unlocked position the slide is in its lower position. If in this position the push button is actuated rocking movement will be imparted to the lever 12 and slide 16, and the stud or other projection 18 by its cooperation with the step or other abutment 26 on the pawl will rock the pawl to free it from the rotary catch 11. However, when the slide is set to the raised or locked positions the stud or other projection 18 is freed from the step or other abutment 26, so that actuation of the push button will not impart rocking movement to the slide.

if the door is closed with the slide inadvertently set in the locked position, rotation of the catch 11 will, by cam action on the portion 25, raise the pawl, and thereby rock the detent 28. This rocking of the detent causes its nose to bear on the shoulder or other abutment 29 on the slide and move the slide downwardly to the unlocked position. However, when it is desired to lock the door from the outside this can be achieved by setting the slide to the locked position by operation of the lock actuating means at the inside of the door and then closing the door with the push button depressed. The depressing of the push button causes the shoulder or other abutment 29 on the slide to be moved out of the path of the nose of the detent 28 so that automatic unlocking of the mechanism is prevented.

If the adjustable arm 31 on the release lever 32 is preset, so that this release lever acts upon the lever 12,

then actuation of the inside catch releasing handle eifects a similar operation to the push button. This setting is used when it is required habitually to carry small children in the vehicle, since, when the mechanism is set to the locked position, movement of the catch releasing handle will not effect a release of the catch.

However, if the adjustable arm 31 is preset to the vehicle owners requirements, so that the release lever 31 acts upon the pawl, then the mechanism is unlocked automatically when the catch releasing handle is actuated, this being effected by the detent 28 in a similar manner to when the door is closed with the slide inadvertently left in the locked position. V In Figures 4 to 6 is illustrated a modification of the invention which is similar in essence to the example illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, and in describing this example reference will only be made to the points of difference existing between the'two examples. Also in Figures 4 to 6 parts similar to those in Figures 1 to 3 are given the same references with the prefix 1.

In the example illustrated in Figures 4 to 6 the push button operable from the outside of the door has an extension 133 which acts directly upon a lateral portion 116a on the slide 116, instead of acting directly or indirectly upon the lever 112. Also the stud orother projection 118 on the slide may engage a slot 119 in the lever 112 which is open-ended as shown.

The lever 123 rockable by lock actuating means at the inside of the door has a forked end which engages a'pin 134 on the lower end of the slide for imparting movement to the slide between a locked position and an un locked position.

The detent 128 is connected to the pawl 124 by a link 135, and its nose is adapted to act upon the stud or other projection 118 in moving the slide to the unlocked or lower position, when the pawl is moved to release it from the catch 111, with the slide in the locked position and without the push button being depressed. Further the one end of the spring 130 is connected to the pivot pin interconnecting the link 135 with the pawl.

Other parts which are not mentioned serve the same purposes as the equivalent parts in Figures 1 to 3, and

the mode of operation of the mechanism is as described with reference to Figures 1 to 3.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A vehicle door fastener comprising in combination, a body part adapted to be mounted adjacent the free edge of the door, a rotary toothed catch on the body part for engagement with a striker on a relatively fixed part of the vehicle body, a spring-loaded pawl pivoted on the body part for engagement with a catch, a slide having pin and slot connection with the body part, means for imparting angular movement .to the slide from the outside of the door, locking means operable from the inside of the door for imparting sliding movement to the slide between a locked position and an unlocked position, a stud or other projection on the slide for imparting a catch releasing movement to the pawl when angular movement is imparted to the slide in the unlocked position, a detent operable by the pawl to move the slide to the unlocked position when the pawl is actuated in a catch releasing direction with the slide in the locked position, a lever pivotally mounted on the body part for angular move ment with the slide and having an arm extending beside an arm of the pawl, and release means operable from the inside of the door which can be preset to act either upon the arm of the pawl or on the arm of the said lever.

' 2. A vehicle door fastener as claimed in claim 1 in which the slide has a slot engaging a pin in the body part, which pin serves also as the pivot for the pawl and the said lever.

3. A vehicle door fastener as claimed in claim 1 in References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,272,167 Cloutier et al. Feb. 19, 1942 2,658,782 Allen Nov. 10, 1953 

